Pro Tip: If you have a handful of high referring physicians, make their cards specific to their practice. They will love that you took the extra effort to personalize their referral cards with their practice name.
Choosing a design software
If you’re creating your cards in Microsoft Word or another word processor, your design will be limited to the most rudimentary options. Designing in a program like PhotoShop or Adobe Illustrator will give you a much more professional look and feel.
If you don’t have anyone on your team who’s versed in a design program, contact a web designer for this task. For around $150-200 you can get a beautiful and unique template that you can use again and again.
Looking for a free pre-built template made specifically for diagnostic facility referrals?
When you’re designing your cards (or assigning a project to a designer) make sure you consider design elements like font and color. Look back at your website and business cards to make sure everything matches up nicely. Building a recognizable brand means picking a style and sticking to it.
Getting high-quality prints
If you’re printing your cards in the office, it’s time to step up your game. For just a few bucks you can get sturdy, high-quality prints online, or even up the road.
Shop around for an online service or brick and mortar store at places like:
Sales and marketing in diagnostics is an area that has become increasingly challenging and complex. A clear picture of your current situation, your goals, and the path of least resistance to reach those goals is crucial. There’s more to it than making a list of strategies and jumping right in. Trial and error lead to time and money lost unnecessarily.
Radiology Marketing Strategies: Fundamental Planning Steps To Grow an Imaging Center
Most imaging centers have some radiology marketing strategies up their sleeves. However, sales and marketing in diagnostics is an area that has become increasingly challenging and complex. A clear picture of your current situation, your goals, and the path of least resistance to reach those goals is crucial.
There’s more to it than making a list of strategies and jumping right in. Trial and error lead to time and money lost unnecessarily.
Research, data assessment, and patient and provider feedback are the guiding forces behind an effective marketing plan for any imaging center.
Collecting patient feedback after their appointment is industry standard these days, so why not improve your online reviews while you’re at it?
You Can’t Grow an Imaging Center Without Some Information
Gathering information in the following areas will vastly improve any marketing manager’s ability to grow an imaging center. The success of your diagnostic marketing plan and your overall profitability will be driven by this research.
If you’re already on a roll and looking for some quick and effective strategies, check out this article for some simple yet effective additions to your radiology marketing strategies. If you’re looking to set up a big picture plan for long-term sustainable growth, read on.
A lack of initial research leads to an inefficient allocation of resources.
Spend the time now to save weeks or months of effort later. Before enacting your marketing plan, gather data for the following areas.
Determining your strengths and weaknesses can be as involved as you choose for it to be. Regardless of how detailed you choose to get, note areas you’re already at the top of your game on and where you stand to make the most meaningful improvements.
Performing a detailed SWOT Analysis takes time and effort, but it’s well worth the energy. This will not only help direct your marketing efforts, it will help you budget for what matters most.
Strengths: Pinpoint what sets you apart from your competition
Do you offer exams which are not available elsewhere in your area?
Do you have an online referral system or unique integrations for your RIS?
Do you have equipment that accommodates a specific group of patients?
Do you offer the lowest self-pay prices in the area?
Do you offer extended hours of operation?
Weaknesses: Assess areas for improvement
Are your software systems slow and clunky?
Is there a group of patients you struggle with assisting?
Is your website dated and difficult to use?
Is your location inconvenient for your patients?
Even if you are not able to make improvements to these areas right now, simply knowing where your challenges are will help direct your diagnostic marketing efforts.
Opportunities: Finding areas of need and how you can fulfill those needs.
Do your strengths put you in a prime position to best perform a specific type of exam?
Is there a need for a service you provide which you expect to grow in the coming years?
Are there ways the radiology industry is changing that open new doors for your business?
The next section covers Market Research & Competition Analysis, which will help you target the most valuable opportunities for growth.
Threats: Finding where you are most vulnerable.
Is a local hospital’s radiology department growing at a rate you can’t compete with?
Are changes in government policy going to cause hardships for your center?
Is a larger facility in a nearby area getting referrals that use to be sent to your center?
Identifying threats will help you find how to best protect against them instead of weathering the storm once it arrives.
Even a quick brainstorm style version is better than nothing and you can always make modifications over time as you collect more information.
2. Competition and Radiology Market Analysis
Gathering data by performing a full radiology market analysis and competition assessment is akin to learning who you are up against in a sporting event. If you don’t know how many other players are on the opposing team, their signature plays, or even how many teams you could be competing against, you’re in for a tough game.
Researching your local competition and radiology market size for your area using these steps:
Gather local market statistics from vendors, independent consultants, medical publications, and databases to determine the greatest need in your area. Strive to learn things like what specialists are most likely to refer for each exam type and how far from your location is too far.
Assess your current referral data and track changes over time. Integrate a HIPPA compliant reporting tool that integrates with your RIS to build customized dynamic reports you can check anytime. Note your top referring providers’ location, specialty, and practice size. Use this data to assign a current sending score for each provider. This will help you find opportunities for increased referrals and identify physicians who are already referring an ideal number of patients.
Identify the best new referral opportunities by researching medical providers in the area. If you have a web developer on your team, you may be able to automate this process. Score potential referrers to find those most worth pursuing.
Take these factors into consideration when building your radiology marketing strategies for assessing referral opportunities.
Specialty
Practice size
Location
Once you have determined which current and prospective referring providers are most valuable to your facility, you can focus your radiology marketing plan around them. This will ensure your marketing has a well-defined path.
3. Data Collection From Patients & Providers
Getting a clear picture of how you’re perceived by patients and providers may be the most valuable ongoing data you can collect. Strive to constantly assess your progress through:
Patient Satisfaction Surveyscan be sent via email, SMS text messages, or as a pre-stamped postcard at the time of the exam. The answers patients give can help you to:
Understand your strengths and weaknesses from a patient perspective
Gather more information about patient expectations
Reach out to unsatisfied patients to resolve the issue
An imaging center’s patient satisfaction rate is correlated to ratings and reviews, both of which can help you get more patients. Learn more about how to grow an imaging center through effective patient retention strategies. Ensuring patients would choose your center next time around makes a big difference.
Provider Feedbackcan be collected on an individual basis over the phone, in person, or through email. Ask your referring providers about
Ease of referral process. Was it quick? Easy? Convenient?
Exam results. Were the results timely and easy to access? Were the images clear?
Communication.Was it easy to communicate with our staff? Were you able to get in touch with us easily? Did we answer any questions and adhere to special requests?
Would you recommend us to another physician?Why or why not?
What can we improve?The most important question you can ask.
Most likely, your imaging center profitability revolves around your referring providers. Your provider feedback will help you understand what your referring doctors are looking for and how to best meet their needs. It will also let them know you’re striving to make things easier on them and that you respect and value their relationship with your center.
Effectively marketing to physicians for referrals
One strategy rarely employed is email marketing to physicians. This method of gaining referrals requires some planning and research and can produce surprisingly positive results. The key here is finding out what information of value you can offer to referring partners to strengthen your relationship with them.
Things change over time, if you’ve planned carefully, it will be for the better. Monitoring your progress through ongoing data collection and assessment is a key component to maintaining your trajectory.
Now that you’ve put the time and thought into the preliminary steps to planning out your approach, you’re off to the races. The work you’ve put into analyzing your business, researching your local market, and collecting data will be invaluable in every marketing tactic you employ. You’ll want to check back in with these items regularly.
Decide how often you will:
Reassess your data
Measure your progress
Make adjustments to your marketing plan
Maybe it’s once a quarter with your whole team, maybe it’s at the end of each month when you’re taking a look at the cash flow, maybe it’s a quick glance each week. Whatever you choose, be diligent and you will get the most out of your radiology marketing strategies to drive your business to success.
Looking to get a leg up by better understanding your local market and competition?
Your diagnostic imaging marketing doesn’t mean much if your phone number isn’t easy to call. A phone call is the main method of contact for most imaging centers and the phone number is most often found online.
Get More From Your Diagnostic Imaging Marketing With This 5-Minute Fix
Don’t use just any developer, use a development team with over 10 years of experience with diagnostics.
Click-to-call makes it easy for your patients, physicians, and website visitors to call your imaging center by simply tapping the phone number on their mobile device.
Some devices may be able to recognize the phone number automatically, but without setting up click-to-call in your HTML code, you’ll be leaving many people to have to copy and paste the number or write it down to call. This often means the difference between gaining and missing out on a new patient.
The good news is that your phone number can be optimized in less time than it takes to fill out the new patient paperwork in the waiting room. If you or someone on your team has a little HTML experience, you can knock this out in no time. If not, you can reach out to the company that developed your website to request they add this functionality.
Creating Click-To-Call Using Text
To add click-to-call functionality to your website without a button, you can add the following tag directly into an HTML code, replacing the 5555555555 with your center’s phone number without spaces or dashes.:
<a href="tel:5555555555">Call Us</a>
In this example, the text “Call Us” will be what visitors to your site see. You can replace this with the phone number its self or any other text you’d like to display.
Creating Click-To-Call Using an Image
If you have a phone icon or the number displayed as an image, you can create a click-to-call button using the following code and replace the 5555555555 with your phone number and also replace the http://www.domain.com/files/phone-icon.jpg with the file path for the image you’d like to use.
Anytime you make a change to your site, you’ll need to test it. Test your click-to-call function by pulling up the site on a variety of different phones to make sure everything is displayed correctly and of course that the call can be made successfully.
Want more people calling? Getting more online reviews will attract new patients.
Email can be an effective marketing method for imaging centers. Whether you’re currently sending out emails, or not, this article will explain exactly what you should write about, who you should send to, and much more.
Should Email Be A Cornerstone Of Your Diagnostic Imaging Marketing Strategy?
Is your diagnostic imaging marketing plan not producing the results you want? We all get emails in our inbox, but sending emails out isn’t so easy, especially for an imaging center. There are plenty of resources out there that detail how to sell products through email, but not many that are specific to the medical field, much less email marketing for an imaging center.
But don’t be discouraged, email can certainly be an effective marketing method for imaging centers. Whether you’re currently sending out emails, or not, this article will explain exactly what you should write about, who you should send to, and much more.
Remember, even though email can be an effective marketing option, it should be one of many tools in your marketing toolbox. Your diagnostic imaging center reputation should have a management plan to keep your audience, patients and physicians alike, interested in doing business with you.
Don’t Let Your Competition Win Over Your Patient Base!
Email Marketing to Physicians for Referrals: Do it Right and You’ll Easily Get More Patients
Healthcare providers are obviously people you want on your side. If you have a designated Physician Liaison they have likely delved into this to some degree. However, marketing to physicians for referrals is a tricky business. Monetarily, it seems providers offices wouldn’t have much to gain by sending patients to any particular imaging center since it doesn’t directly impact their bottom line. Upon closer inspection, however, it’s clear that when patients are happy with an imaging center, and their doctor, everyone benefits.
It’s up to you to show providers not only that you are interested in their referrals, but that you are taking stock in their practice and the well-being of their patients. Your center’s diagnostic marketing emails to physicians should reflect this.
Provide value in every email you send
Like most of us, doctors don’t have time or patience for emails that are generic and salesy. People want to open emails that are chock full of useful information that is specific to the problems they are facing. This is important to keep in mind when incorporating emails into your diagnostic imaging marketing plan for gaining new referrals. Here are a few ways you can provide valuable information in your emails to referring providers. Help them help their patients. Anything from scheduling advice to training tips on staff and patient interactions, to the delivery of test results can be good information. Do some research to find what your specific providers would find most valuable. Help them help their practice. With healthcare, there are always new medications on the market and treatment options being developed. Help doctors stay up to date with recent research and popular topics related to their specialty.
Pro Tip 1:Don’t include a request in your emails. Instead, include key information about your imaging facility to help providers see the value and quality care your radiology center offers.
Pro Tip 2:Do your research. Take the time to learn as much as you can about each provider you’re reaching out to. It’s also important to research their specialty to better understand what value you can provide. For example, you might find articles that are of particular interest to Orthopedic Surgeons.
Get More Patients Through Radiology Email Marketing
Your diagnostic email marketing strategy is incomplete until you are sending effective emails to your existing patients. You may wonder how sending emails to current patients will help you get more patients coming in the door. The answer is community awareness.
When people read about something interesting, have a great experience, or save a ton of money, they tend to tell their friend, family, and coworkers about it. Here are a few ways to encourage your patients to spread the word.
Remind them how much money they saved. Find out how much the local hospital charges for the same exam and let patients know how much they would have spent elsewhere. Send patients interesting and actionable health information. There are countless article topics that people may find interesting. Find some articles that really help people understand their health, risk factors, and symptoms. Ask patients to like your imaging center on social media. If you’re confident that a patient was happy with their experience (you can find out with a satisfaction survey) there’s no harm in asking them to like or follow you. Just make sure you’re providing useful information on your social media sites to keep your followers engaged.
Pro Tip 1:Personalize and segment your patient emails. What is true for provider emails, is also true for patients. Generic emails are always a no-go in diagnostic imaging marketing.
Pro Tip 2:Track your results. The goal is to increase patient volume. If you don’t track your results, you will never know what emails are engaging and how many new patients are coming into your imaging center due to your efforts. Track your open and click rate for each email and be sure to ask new patients where they heard about your radiology center.
Pro Tip 3:Make sure you’re staying HIPPA compliant and that patients you email have agreed to be emailed. Of course in your email marketing for your imaging center, maintaining HIPPA compliance is a must. You may want to utilize an email opt-in selection on your patient registration forms so you know who to send emails to.
Email marketing to patients is an effective way to build a following and empower your patients to take an active role in their health care choices. Well informed and empowered patients also are more likely to schedule follow up exams when their doctor recommends them.
Build and Nurture Relationships With Emails
Email is not only a great marketing tool, it can also help you nurture your existing relationships with physicians and patients. Maintaining and increasing patient retention should always be a top priority and paying attention to what your patient need and want is key.
Keep people in the know by using emails to send out:
Appointment reminders and follow up reminders
Updates about new additionals or processes at your imaging center
Invitations to any events your radiology group is sponsoring or hosting in the community such as free health screenings.
If you’re already sending out emails to patients and physicians, and you are not getting the response you expect, it could be that your emails are not being received due to spam filters. In other cases, it may be that your emails are not being opened because your subject lines need some work. If you’re seeing low open rates, especially with your email marketing to physicians for referrals, you should address the issue before implementing new strategies.
Admittedly, marketing to physicians for referrals isn’t easy, even if you are an experienced email marketer. But, the rewards are well worth spending the time to craft your messages carefully. Always strive to give more than you ask in return and to respect the time and wishes of everyone you send to.
Analyzing your results regularly will help guide your future efforts. It’s crucial to know your open and click rate on each email so you can fine-tune your approach to marketing your imaging center. A/B or Split Testing is a great way to test out various content or subject lines to find what is most popular among your readers. Most email marketing services such as MailChimp offer an easy way to set up an A/B test.
Email is an effective approach to diagnostic imaging marketing if you do it right
Sending out emails without a clearly defined strategy is like cooking for dinner guests without a recipe. It might start out great, but once you get going you’re bound to run into some problems. And serving a burnt casserole at your party is not so impressive.
With some research, individual consideration, and careful planning, you will find that email is a very useful tool for gaining new business and nurturing existing relationships.
Taking a step back to assess what your patients and referring physicians really want and need from you will help you effectively incorporate email into your diagnostic imaging marketing plan with a solid path.
How would you like to market your center to referring physicians with Medical Practice Growth Tips and Doctor to Doctor articles?
Great strategy guides have been created for increasing patient referrals to new and growing diagnostic imaging centers, but much less is written about strategies for diagnostic patient retention.
Focusing only on marketing your imaging center to gain new patients may mean failing to nurture existing patients, which can hinder your efforts to build your imaging center’s reputation. And a good reputation is key to gaining new diagnostics patients and growing your imaging center overall.
Patients who slip through the cracks may suffer negative consequences of disrupted care, while your center loses the rewards of all the hard work that has gone into your outreach and reputation-building efforts.
Thankfully, there are many ways to keep your patients engaged with your imaging center, and they won’t break your bank. If you set them up carefully, many can even be automated!
Increase your patient retention by staying connected.
Asking patients for feedback is a great way to stay connected, get more online reviews, and pinpoint how to improve your patient experience.
Quality Care is the first step to increase patient retention for an imaging center
This one may seem obvious, but are you going about this with the right mindset?
You take pride in your staff’s training and dedication to current best practices, as well as the safety and rigor of the technologies they use. However, other metrics of quality may be an even more effective method to increase patient retention for an imaging center.
The patient’s understanding of their care and active engagement in decision making, the perceived goodwill of the staff, and ease of appointment making are just a few facets of patient experience that can make or break a patient’s relationship with your center.
Ensure that your diagnostic patients understand their exams
Although it is easy to assume that smiling, nodding patients understand what your staff is telling them, this is often not the case.
How can you help imaging patients play an active role in decisions about their health?
Consider asking the patient open-ended questions to encourage them to describe in their own words what you have discussed so that you can check for understanding.
Motivational Interviewing is a well-researched set of principles and tools that can help healthcare providers to avoid taking a paternalistic role with their patients, as this can result in the power struggles and ambivalence that lead to no-show’s as well as poor adherence to recommendations and follow-ups. Instead, these simple but powerful techniques help you to take on a collaborative partnership with your patients to keep them engaged.
Empowering your imaging patients to understand and take part in their health care will result in positive outcomes, including patient satisfaction and an increase in patient retention for an imaging center.
Retaining imaging patients by training your staff in rapport-building
Every staff member has an impact on how patients will perceive any outpatient imaging center as a whole. We also know that patients who think the staff and providers are “nice” will be more likely to come back. What might not be so obvious is how, exactly, to accomplish this, particularly in the face of time limitations or patient complaints.
Integrating warmth and continued connection with the patient into your center’s processes is one of the best ideas for patient retention. It turns out it’s the little things that make a big difference. Multiple studies have shown that small touches such as mailing patients postcards and letters can actually reduce suicide attempts. This highlights just how powerful small kindnesses can be.
Keep in touch with your patients, for example by mailing birthday or holiday cards. Not only does keeping in touch with your patients show them that you care, it can also help remind them to take stock of their health, which could mean coming in for a follow-up.
Many times it’s the little things that people remember. If you’re struggling with how to keep radiology patients happy, don’t overlook the details.
Retaining imaging patients means giving your patients resources that matter to them
When considering strategies for patient retention, providing valueto your patients is crucial. And we’re not just talking about a low price here. Help your patients make the most of their time with you, as well as the interactions you have with them outside your imaging facility.
Schedule quickly to help your patients to keep their appointments.
A large study of 54,652 radiology exam appointments showed that no-shows were more frequent if there were more days between the appointment and the day it was scheduled. Not surprisingly, patients who had missed appointments in the past were also at higher risk for missing them again. Get patients scheduled as quickly as possible, and use reminders to help patients remember their appointments. If a patient has no-showed previously, consider using multiple reminders to assist them.
Stay connected with your patients through radiology email marketing
Radiology patient retention can benefit from some of the same automated email strategies that help other businesses. These may include:
Emails welcoming them to the imaging center
Emails providing requested content
Example: A potential patient enters their email address into your center’s website so that they can receive an e-brochure on screening recommendations for their age group
Emails that invite the patient to get to know the center better. This could be an invitation to like or follow your facility on social media, or an invitation to a community event the center is hosting or sponsoring.
Emails that ask the patient questions that would help to inform your patient care and/or marketing strategies and help the patient to feel heard and valued
Example: A patient satisfaction survey after an appointment visit
Example: Asking patients what their biggest concern is about a particular imaging exam
Emails that ask the patient to review your center online (e.g., on Yelp, etc.)
Although positive reviews will help you to engage new patients, writing reviews on your behalf may also help your patients to be even more committed to your center!
Newsletter emails
Example: Patient stories about how your center has helped them, news about how the center is improving and growing, information about how your center helps the local community
These strategies for diagnostic patient retention will lead your facility to success
There are a wealth of strategies for diagnostic patient retention, both human-centered and technology-assisted, that can help you make sure you keep your patients happy.
These retention tools require some investment or training up front but can become an automatic part of your imaging center’s daily routines. Not only will they help you with patient retention, but they also help to foster a positive workplace culture at your radiology center!
Growing your imaging center doesn’t have to be hard!
Great strategy guides have been created for increasing patient referrals to new and growing diagnostic imaging centers, but much less is written about strategies for diagnostic patient retention.
Focusing only on marketing your imaging center to gain new patients may mean failing to nurture existing patients, which can hinder your efforts to build your imaging center’s reputation. And a good reputation is key to gaining new diagnostics patients and growing your imaging center overall.
Patients who slip through the cracks may suffer negative consequences of disrupted care, while your center loses the rewards of all the hard work that has gone into your outreach and reputation-building efforts.
Thankfully, there are many ways to keep your patients engaged with your imaging center, and they won’t break your bank. If you set them up carefully, many can even be automated!
Increase your patient retention by staying connected.
Asking patients for feedback is a great way to stay connected, get more online reviews, and pinpoint how to improve your patient experience.
Quality Care is the first step to increase patient retention for an imaging center
This one may seem obvious, but are you going about this with the right mindset?
You take pride in your staff’s training and dedication to current best practices, as well as the safety and rigor of the technologies they use. However, other metrics of quality may be an even more effective method to increase patient retention for an imaging center.
The patient’s understanding of their care and active engagement in decision making, the perceived goodwill of the staff, and ease of appointment making are just a few facets of patient experience that can make or break a patient’s relationship with your center.
Ensure that your diagnostic patients understand their exams
Although it is easy to assume that smiling, nodding patients understand what your staff is telling them, this is often not the case.
How can you help imaging patients play an active role in decisions about their health?
Consider asking the patient open-ended questions to encourage them to describe in their own words what you have discussed so that you can check for understanding.
Motivational Interviewing is a well-researched set of principles and tools that can help healthcare providers to avoid taking a paternalistic role with their patients, as this can result in the power struggles and ambivalence that lead to no-show’s as well as poor adherence to recommendations and follow-ups. Instead, these simple but powerful techniques help you to take on a collaborative partnership with your patients to keep them engaged.
Empowering your imaging patients to understand and take part in their health care will result in positive outcomes, including patient satisfaction and an increase in patient retention for an imaging center.
Retaining imaging patients by training your staff in rapport-building
Every staff member has an impact on how patients will perceive any outpatient imaging center as a whole. We also know that patients who think the staff and providers are “nice” will be more likely to come back. What might not be so obvious is how, exactly, to accomplish this, particularly in the face of time limitations or patient complaints.
Integrating warmth and continued connection with the patient into your center’s processes is one of the best ideas for patient retention. It turns out it’s the little things that make a big difference. Multiple studies have shown that small touches such as mailing patients postcards and letters can actually reduce suicide attempts. This highlights just how powerful small kindnesses can be.
Keep in touch with your patients, for example by mailing birthday or holiday cards. Not only does keeping in touch with your patients show them that you care, it can also help remind them to take stock of their health, which could mean coming in for a follow-up.
Many times it’s the little things that people remember. If you’re struggling with how to keep radiology patients happy, don’t overlook the details.
Retaining imaging patients means giving your patients resources that matter to them
When considering strategies for patient retention, providing valueto your patients is crucial. And we’re not just talking about a low price here. Help your patients make the most of their time with you, as well as the interactions you have with them outside your imaging facility.
Schedule quickly to help your patients to keep their appointments.
A large study of 54,652 radiology exam appointments showed that no-shows were more frequent if there were more days between the appointment and the day it was scheduled. Not surprisingly, patients who had missed appointments in the past were also at higher risk for missing them again. Get patients scheduled as quickly as possible, and use reminders to help patients remember their appointments. If a patient has no-showed previously, consider using multiple reminders to assist them.
Stay connected with your patients through radiology email marketing
Radiology patient retention can benefit from some of the same automated email strategies that help other businesses. These may include:
Emails welcoming them to the imaging center
Emails providing requested content
Example: A potential patient enters their email address into your center’s website so that they can receive an e-brochure on screening recommendations for their age group
Emails that invite the patient to get to know the center better. This could be an invitation to like or follow your facility on social media, or an invitation to a community event the center is hosting or sponsoring.
Emails that ask the patient questions that would help to inform your patient care and/or marketing strategies and help the patient to feel heard and valued
Example: A patient satisfaction survey after an appointment visit
Example: Asking patients what their biggest concern is about a particular imaging exam
Emails that ask the patient to review your center online (e.g., on Yelp, etc.)
Although positive reviews will help you to engage new patients, writing reviews on your behalf may also help your patients to be even more committed to your center!
Newsletter emails
Example: Patient stories about how your center has helped them, news about how the center is improving and growing, information about how your center helps the local community
These strategies for diagnostic patient retention will lead your facility to success
There are a wealth of strategies for diagnostic patient retention, both human-centered and technology-assisted, that can help you make sure you keep your patients happy.
These retention tools require some investment or training up front but can become an automatic part of your imaging center’s daily routines. Not only will they help you with patient retention, but they also help to foster a positive workplace culture at your radiology center!
Growing your imaging center doesn’t have to be hard!
A Good Email Signature Is an Easily Accessible Tool in Your Diagnostic Imaging Marketing Strategy Toolkit
According to Sumo, the average person receives 124 business related emails per day. That’s a lot of competition. When it comes to diagnostic imaging marketing, there are several tactics to get you noticed. One of the simplest, yet often overlooked, is having a good email signature.
Below we will show you how an effective email signature can be created in a matter of minutes.
Looking for a better way to send out more effective emails from your diagnostic center?
How a Simple Addition to Your Email Signature Can Generate Sustained Interest and More Patient Referrals
Radiology Marketing Strategy: All aspects of marketing your diagnostic center should aim to be memorable. If your signature doesn’t stand out and provide useful information to your reader, you could be missing out on connecting with your community and getting new patient referrals.
So, what does a memorable email signature need?
Most imaging centers have the minimum. This includes:
Your Full Name
Your Diagnostic & Imaging Center’s Address
Your Diagnostic & Imaging Center’s Website
That’s a great start, but here’ what you really need for radiology marketing strategy:
Here are 3 key email steps below to pique the interest of a Referring Physician
1. Add Your Email Address to Your Email Signature
It’s funny how a little thing like this can have such an impact. Most people feel that it is redundant to add your email address to your signature. Actually, you are making it easier for your referring physician to save your information and remember who you are.
This technique sets you apart from those other 123 emails your reader is getting today.
2. Make Sure Your Email Signature is Branded In Line Your Other Radiology Marketing Efforts
Your email signature is a form of branding which is key to any diagnostic imaging marketing strategy. Just as you would take into consideration font size, type, and color on a piece of marketing collateral, use the same principle here too. Color plays a big part. Change the font color of your name to match the branding of your facility. This helps it stand out and adds consistency to your overall marketing.
Go a step further and change the font color of your title and email address to match your name. This helps your referring physicians quickly identify what they need in a well-organized signature. Another benefit of adding color to portions of your signature is that it will break up your name, title, and website from the middle portion featuring your business address.
Remember to test your color on multiple devices to be sure it is clearly visible.
3. Get Creative With Your Layout
Who says your email signature has to read like a standard line-by-line paragraph? Actually, you can get your referring physician’s attention by being creative in unique ways. For example, add your facility’s logo to your signature and move it out to the right of your contact information. Enlarge your logo to cover ⅔ of the signature. Since we read from left to right, your contact information is the first that is read and your logo is the last. Embed a link to your website within your logo for an interesting Call to Action.
Want To Kick Your Diagnostics Imaging Marketing Into High Gear?
The tips above cover a lot. But there is so much more you can do! Incorporating effective emails into your diagnostic imaging marketing plan means using what you have to your advantage.
Use Your Radiology Blog in Your Email Signature to Generate Added Interest.
It’s the little things that matter is a phrase that holds true in many instances. Your mail signature is one of them. By making just a few small adjustments, you will set yourself apart from your diagnostic imaging marketing competition, increasing the chances of your diagnostic and imaging facility being remembered, thus creating an increased chance of new business with referring physicians.
A Good Email Signature Is an Easily Accessible Tool in Your Diagnostic Imaging Marketing Strategy Toolkit
According to Sumo, the average person receives 124 business related emails per day. That’s a lot of competition. When it comes to diagnostic imaging marketing, there are several tactics to get you noticed. One of the simplest, yet often overlooked, is having a good email signature.
Below we will show you how an effective email signature can be created in a matter of minutes.
Looking for a better way to send out more effective emails from your diagnostic center?
How a Simple Addition to Your Email Signature Can Generate Sustained Interest and More Patient Referrals
Radiology Marketing Strategy: All aspects of marketing your diagnostic center should aim to be memorable. If your signature doesn’t stand out and provide useful information to your reader, you could be missing out on connecting with your community and getting new patient referrals.
So, what does a memorable email signature need?
Most imaging centers have the minimum. This includes:
Your Full Name
Your Diagnostic & Imaging Center’s Address
Your Diagnostic & Imaging Center’s Website
That’s a great start, but here’ what you really need for radiology marketing strategy:
Here are 3 key email steps below to pique the interest of a Referring Physician
1. Add Your Email Address to Your Email Signature
It’s funny how a little thing like this can have such an impact. Most people feel that it is redundant to add your email address to your signature. Actually, you are making it easier for your referring physician to save your information and remember who you are.
This technique sets you apart from those other 123 emails your reader is getting today.
2. Make Sure Your Email Signature is Branded In Line Your Other Radiology Marketing Efforts
Your email signature is a form of branding which is key to any diagnostic imaging marketing strategy. Just as you would take into consideration font size, type, and color on a piece of marketing collateral, use the same principle here too. Color plays a big part. Change the font color of your name to match the branding of your facility. This helps it stand out and adds consistency to your overall marketing.
Go a step further and change the font color of your title and email address to match your name. This helps your referring physicians quickly identify what they need in a well-organized signature. Another benefit of adding color to portions of your signature is that it will break up your name, title, and website from the middle portion featuring your business address.
Remember to test your color on multiple devices to be sure it is clearly visible.
3. Get Creative With Your Layout
Who says your email signature has to read like a standard line-by-line paragraph? Actually, you can get your referring physician’s attention by being creative in unique ways. For example, add your facility’s logo to your signature and move it out to the right of your contact information. Enlarge your logo to cover ⅔ of the signature. Since we read from left to right, your contact information is the first that is read and your logo is the last. Embed a link to your website within your logo for an interesting Call to Action.
Want To Kick Your Diagnostics Imaging Marketing Into High Gear?
The tips above cover a lot. But there is so much more you can do! Incorporating effective emails into your diagnostic imaging marketing plan means using what you have to your advantage.
Use Your Radiology Blog in Your Email Signature to Generate Added Interest.
It’s the little things that matter is a phrase that holds true in many instances. Your mail signature is one of them. By making just a few small adjustments, you will set yourself apart from your diagnostic imaging marketing competition, increasing the chances of your diagnostic and imaging facility being remembered, thus creating an increased chance of new business with referring physicians.
There are two important questions to answer relating to starting an imaging center.
The first is:Should you open a diagnostic imaging center? The answer to this one will vary depending on who’s asking it.
The second is perhaps more important and needs to be answered first:What does it take to start an imaging center?
This article is going to give you everything you need to know about building an imaging center so you can come to an informed conclusion on whether or not this endeavor is right for you.
Setting up a marketing strategy for your new imaging center?
Before you start creating a vision and a marketing plan for a new imaging center, you’ll want to do some research. For your radiology center business plan, Imaging center profitability may be on a long-term upward trend, but with healthcare reform and economic changes, there are no guarantees. Is it worth the risk? The only way to answer this is to do the research specific to your situation and location.
Starting an imaging center is not cheap.
You’ll have to put in a lot of money upfront and it can take time to start making a profit. Will you need investors, a business partner, or some loans? Crunching the numbers should be your first step.
These are dozens of questions you will want to ask yourself in order to determine whether starting an imaging center is a good choice for you. Questions will help guide your research and planning into the financial and marketing aspects of opening an imaging center.
Consider The Location You’re Thinking About Opening an Imaging Center In
The number one rule of all real estate is location, location. location. Sounds easy but there some specific considerations to take into account when we are talking about where to open an imaging center.
Locations near physician’s offices and near the hospital are ideal.
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your Referring Physicians. It needs to be accessible and convenient for the patients. Often a physician will recommend a certain test for a patient and tell the patient to come back to his office when it is completed.
Even if a test is not able to be performed immediately or even in the next few days, the patient likely lives or works nearby or at least is familiar with the area.
Pick a location that’s easy to find
If the patient cannot easily locate the radiology imaging center his or her physician recommended, it is the patient’s prerogative to go to any location he or she chooses. Missed appointments mean your radiology marketing budget is taking a hit.
Diagnostics Building Specifications
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made.
It’s up to you to make sure your facility meets all the requirements.
Look and Feel of the Place
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the overall appearance of the center both inside and out. If the building is old and the rooms are cramped, it could steer potential patients and referring physicians away from you.
Parking and Public Transportation to your Imaging Center
There must be enough parking spaces and many patients will need handicapped spaces. If the building is not free-standing, you must be cognizant of the types of businesses above your planned imaging center.
Ideally, your imaging center will be located within easy reach of public transportation. Otherwise, you are limiting your patient pool to those who have a vehicle.
MRI Specific Considerations
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room.
The MRI machine should be placed in an RF-shielded (radio-frequency) room.
The MRI space consists of three nested components:
An outer shell for structural support
A middle metallic RF-shield
An interior layer made of finish materials
It takes extra space for these items and they must be constructed properly. It can not be too close to moving traffic as that may interfere with the machine’s capabilities.
Steer Clear of ALL METAL
If metal is allowed in the room, catastrophe will ensue. Many times a “foyer” is constructed at the entrance to the MRI room with metal detectors to ensure there are no mistakes.
Consider The Noise of the MRI
The machine is noisy when in use and will possibly be a nuisance to any upstairs or even downstairs neighbors. If your facility is not in a stand-alone building you should assess the possibility of upsetting your neighbors. You also want to take into account any area of your facility that may be sound sensitive and make sure it’s not near any noisy equipment.
Additional MRI Considerations
Depending on where you are, the MRI may have to be a minimum distance away from moving vehicles as well. This includes lawnmowers and trash collection trucks when they are in use.
CT & X-Ray Machines
The x-ray room and the CT room will have to be lead lined. There will be questions about storage and elimination of any chemicals that may be needed for any specialty machines. Newer machines may not be as “hazardous” as older machines so a decision concerning what radiographic machines to purchase may have to be done prior to the final plans for the building.
Installing The Equipment
Remember, the machines to be installed are more often than not very large and very heavy. They will not fit through a doorway. Often the outside wall of the building will have to be removed for the installation, especially for the MRI. After installation, the wall, as well as any required lining, will have to re-installed. The ceiling of the room also will have to be lined.
The Pros Know Best
Start an imaging center: After deliberating and choosing a suitable location for your center, the hard work begins. Even if the building is already built, even as an imaging center, work will have to be done to the premises.
The layout of the facility should be designed by a professional in the area of imaging centers. Dimensions of rooms may vary wildly depending on the footprint of the proposed or existing building.
An MRI requires definitive parameters that a CT exam room or a room for a plain x-ray machine will not need. You’ll need to think about the width of the hallways and the location of the different modalities, as well as the location of the front desk and even the bathrooms.
Think your plans are done? Not till Uncle Sam says so!
After getting the plans drawn and approved by all of the stakeholders involved in the project, the process is just beginning. The county will have its say on the construction or the remodeling of the buildings. There will be details from the building department of your county that may also have specifications for the build of the center. They will go over every aspect in detail. You may think you have thought of every contingency but this is rarely the case.
Where are the exits on the building? Where will the fire extinguishers be placed? Don’t forget about those required pesky water fountains. What about sprinkler heads? Oh no, this may interfere with the MRI machine. You may also have to educate the authorities on the requirements of the machines you will be installing. It can be a difficult and tedious process.
Keeping Your Patients Happy
The entrance to your facility is very important. You need to be sure it makes all patients feel welcome and at ease. Keeping your patients happy also means the look of the interior is crucial. An interior decorator may be utilized to get the perfect “feel” of the imaging center.
Think Beyond The Building
A beautiful facility is a great start, but before you need to think ahead. How will you attract top-notch employees? How can you get 5-star online reviews ethically right out the gate? Established competitors have already considered these points and if you want to succeed you cannot overlook them.
Now that you have your plans in place, the land or building is purchased or at least under contract or option, it is time to begin. You may have thought that getting to this point was difficult but more work, the hard work, is about to begin.
Start an imaging center: Using a Contractor
You may have a contractor or you may have decided to handle the renovations or building yourself. It is not impossible and can be done. By now you know your design inside out. Your contractor should too but it is still your money. If mistakes are made, you are the one who will have to live with them.
Go to the site daily and check on everything.
From the site preparation to the actual building of the imaging center, if the site work is off and needs to be fixed at a later date, you will have to pay for it. Since you’re already paying a pretty penny, you’re not going to want to tack on extra costs because of a misunderstanding. Mistakes can be fixed, but always at a cost, and most often you will have to pay the bill.
Using a Foreman
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
Building a Great Staff for your Radiology Center Business Plan
Building a great staff for your imaging center takes time and effort. Consider hiring a chief technologist and let him or her interview prospective employees. If you have chosen well, that person will make a list of individuals they have worked with in the past and will know who is good and who is not. Their judgment may be better than yours in this case.
Don’t wait for your building to be completed to begin this step. Relocating, leaving another job, and upcoming travel can all play a part in when your new employees can start, not to mention training time.
Imaging Center Profitability: Co-ordinate your schedule with the vendors of your equipment.
Your machines should be ready to be installed at the proper time in relation to the building. The realization is that often what the salesman told you and reality may be different. The fact of the matter is that things may have changed over time. You should check and recheck all of the details to make this step as smooth as possible.
Finally, You Are Ready To Open Your Imaging Center
After following this guide to start an imaging center, you’ll be ready to, well, open the place! You overcame a lot to get here, now the real work begins.
Your next big hurdle is to go out there and get the business. Go for it. You can do this!
Have you done your research? Get the knowledge to get ahead!
There are two important questions to answer relating to starting an imaging center.
The first is:Should you open a diagnostic imaging center? The answer to this one will vary depending on who’s asking it.
The second is perhaps more important and needs to be answered first:What does it take to start an imaging center?
This article is going to give you everything you need to know about building an imaging center so you can come to an informed conclusion on whether or not this endeavor is right for you.
Setting up a marketing strategy for your new imaging center?
Before you start creating a vision and a marketing plan for a new imaging center, you’ll want to do some research. For your radiology center business plan, Imaging center profitability may be on a long-term upward trend, but with healthcare reform and economic changes, there are no guarantees. Is it worth the risk? The only way to answer this is to do the research specific to your situation and location.
Starting an imaging center is not cheap.
You’ll have to put in a lot of money upfront and it can take time to start making a profit. Will you need investors, a business partner, or some loans? Crunching the numbers should be your first step.
These are dozens of questions you will want to ask yourself in order to determine whether starting an imaging center is a good choice for you. Questions will help guide your research and planning into the financial and marketing aspects of opening an imaging center.
Consider The Location You’re Thinking About Opening an Imaging Center In
The number one rule of all real estate is location, location. location. Sounds easy but there some specific considerations to take into account when we are talking about where to open an imaging center.
Locations near physician’s offices and near the hospital are ideal.
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your Referring Physicians. It needs to be accessible and convenient for the patients. Often a physician will recommend a certain test for a patient and tell the patient to come back to his office when it is completed.
Even if a test is not able to be performed immediately or even in the next few days, the patient likely lives or works nearby or at least is familiar with the area.
Pick a location that’s easy to find
If the patient cannot easily locate the radiology imaging center his or her physician recommended, it is the patient’s prerogative to go to any location he or she chooses. Missed appointments mean your radiology marketing budget is taking a hit.
Diagnostics Building Specifications
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made.
It’s up to you to make sure your facility meets all the requirements.
Look and Feel of the Place
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the overall appearance of the center both inside and out. If the building is old and the rooms are cramped, it could steer potential patients and referring physicians away from you.
Parking and Public Transportation to your Imaging Center
There must be enough parking spaces and many patients will need handicapped spaces. If the building is not free-standing, you must be cognizant of the types of businesses above your planned imaging center.
Ideally, your imaging center will be located within easy reach of public transportation. Otherwise, you are limiting your patient pool to those who have a vehicle.
MRI Specific Considerations
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room.
The MRI machine should be placed in an RF-shielded (radio-frequency) room.
The MRI space consists of three nested components:
An outer shell for structural support
A middle metallic RF-shield
An interior layer made of finish materials
It takes extra space for these items and they must be constructed properly. It can not be too close to moving traffic as that may interfere with the machine’s capabilities.
Steer Clear of ALL METAL
If metal is allowed in the room, catastrophe will ensue. Many times a “foyer” is constructed at the entrance to the MRI room with metal detectors to ensure there are no mistakes.
Consider The Noise of the MRI
The machine is noisy when in use and will possibly be a nuisance to any upstairs or even downstairs neighbors. If your facility is not in a stand-alone building you should assess the possibility of upsetting your neighbors. You also want to take into account any area of your facility that may be sound sensitive and make sure it’s not near any noisy equipment.
Additional MRI Considerations
Depending on where you are, the MRI may have to be a minimum distance away from moving vehicles as well. This includes lawnmowers and trash collection trucks when they are in use.
CT & X-Ray Machines
The x-ray room and the CT room will have to be lead lined. There will be questions about storage and elimination of any chemicals that may be needed for any specialty machines. Newer machines may not be as “hazardous” as older machines so a decision concerning what radiographic machines to purchase may have to be done prior to the final plans for the building.
Installing The Equipment
Remember, the machines to be installed are more often than not very large and very heavy. They will not fit through a doorway. Often the outside wall of the building will have to be removed for the installation, especially for the MRI. After installation, the wall, as well as any required lining, will have to re-installed. The ceiling of the room also will have to be lined.
The Pros Know Best
Start an imaging center: After deliberating and choosing a suitable location for your center, the hard work begins. Even if the building is already built, even as an imaging center, work will have to be done to the premises.
The layout of the facility should be designed by a professional in the area of imaging centers. Dimensions of rooms may vary wildly depending on the footprint of the proposed or existing building.
An MRI requires definitive parameters that a CT exam room or a room for a plain x-ray machine will not need. You’ll need to think about the width of the hallways and the location of the different modalities, as well as the location of the front desk and even the bathrooms.
Think your plans are done? Not till Uncle Sam says so!
After getting the plans drawn and approved by all of the stakeholders involved in the project, the process is just beginning. The county will have its say on the construction or the remodeling of the buildings. There will be details from the building department of your county that may also have specifications for the build of the center. They will go over every aspect in detail. You may think you have thought of every contingency but this is rarely the case.
Where are the exits on the building? Where will the fire extinguishers be placed? Don’t forget about those required pesky water fountains. What about sprinkler heads? Oh no, this may interfere with the MRI machine. You may also have to educate the authorities on the requirements of the machines you will be installing. It can be a difficult and tedious process.
Keeping Your Patients Happy
The entrance to your facility is very important. You need to be sure it makes all patients feel welcome and at ease. Keeping your patients happy also means the look of the interior is crucial. An interior decorator may be utilized to get the perfect “feel” of the imaging center.
Think Beyond The Building
A beautiful facility is a great start, but before you need to think ahead. How will you attract top-notch employees? How can you get 5-star online reviews ethically right out the gate? Established competitors have already considered these points and if you want to succeed you cannot overlook them.
Now that you have your plans in place, the land or building is purchased or at least under contract or option, it is time to begin. You may have thought that getting to this point was difficult but more work, the hard work, is about to begin.
Start an imaging center: Using a Contractor
You may have a contractor or you may have decided to handle the renovations or building yourself. It is not impossible and can be done. By now you know your design inside out. Your contractor should too but it is still your money. If mistakes are made, you are the one who will have to live with them.
Go to the site daily and check on everything.
From the site preparation to the actual building of the imaging center, if the site work is off and needs to be fixed at a later date, you will have to pay for it. Since you’re already paying a pretty penny, you’re not going to want to tack on extra costs because of a misunderstanding. Mistakes can be fixed, but always at a cost, and most often you will have to pay the bill.
Using a Foreman
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
Building a Great Staff for your Radiology Center Business Plan
Building a great staff for your imaging center takes time and effort. Consider hiring a chief technologist and let him or her interview prospective employees. If you have chosen well, that person will make a list of individuals they have worked with in the past and will know who is good and who is not. Their judgment may be better than yours in this case.
Don’t wait for your building to be completed to begin this step. Relocating, leaving another job, and upcoming travel can all play a part in when your new employees can start, not to mention training time.
Imaging Center Profitability: Co-ordinate your schedule with the vendors of your equipment.
Your machines should be ready to be installed at the proper time in relation to the building. The realization is that often what the salesman told you and reality may be different. The fact of the matter is that things may have changed over time. You should check and recheck all of the details to make this step as smooth as possible.
Finally, You Are Ready To Open Your Imaging Center
After following this guide to start an imaging center, you’ll be ready to, well, open the place! You overcame a lot to get here, now the real work begins.
Your next big hurdle is to go out there and get the business. Go for it. You can do this!
Have you done your research? Get the knowledge to get ahead!
Owning an Imaging Center used to be a direct path to riches. Not anymore. In the past, before the Stark Law, anyone could open an imaging center, provide an incentive to physicians in the area to refer all of their patient exams to the center, and you were assured of success. Today patients are more proactive than ever when it comes to selecting a medical provider.
Whether your imaging center is new or not, you won’t get far without patients.
Patients are at the core of any diagnostics center, new or old. Give your patients a reason to choose you over your competitors by building and maintaining trust through excellent service and great online reviews.
It’s especially important to generate positive online reviews from happy patients when you’re new to the game.
In 1988, Stark introduced an “Ethics in Patient Referrals Act” bill concerning physician self-referrals. Thus the Stark Law was enacted. It was a good law for all patients in the US. Many imaging centers have tried to outsmart the laws but it is not to be. Thus physicians have few, if any, incentives to refer to your imaging center.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Front desk clerks do not always want to make changes. They may have been in communication with others at the center they are sending to and feel obligated to send to them. It is difficult to change habits and to get people to adapt to new ways of doing things, regardless of the benefits. How many times have you heard ”but we have always done it this way.”
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
Open an Imaging Center: Money, Money, Money
The reason to spend your time and finances and take a chance on an imaging center is, to be blunt, money. If you do not work hard and have faith and confidence, along with good solid numbers from extensive research, you definitely will not succeed. You might as well take a trip to Las Vegas and put all of your and your stakeholder’s money on red.
There is a much better chance with an Imaging Center if you have done your homework and have a method for success. Before even purchasing the land and building your Center, you must do some homework. There are important questions that have to be answered.
If you open an imaging center, who are the radiologists you will be using?
What will be the costs of the radiologists?
Are the radiologists considered to be good in their field by the referring offices?
Have you included the cost of maintenance contracts in your budget?
Have you taken into consideration the time your machines might be down for maintenance?
Have you researched the possible billing alternatives?
Is it cheaper for you to do the billing in your office or are you going to utilize a service?
If you are going to do the billing yourself, can you collect more or less than a service?
Do you have the physical resources to handle billing in your office?
Is your estimated budget for your center realistic?
Do you have a big enough bankroll to carry your center until it is cash flow positive?
Have you researched the reimbursement for the scans you will be providing?
Have you taken into account a decrease in the possible reimbursement?
Have you considered and pursued hospital affiliations that may increase your reimbursement?
Have you taken into account the possible overstatements by physicians offices?
Have you researched the possibility of success against other centers being utilized by physicians offices?
Have you started the paperwork to join different insurance plans?
Do you have a plan to reach the financial goals necessary for the center to be viable?
How long will it take to reach this goal?
Decisions
After researching these questions you need to be critical and decide if the answers warrant opening an imaging center. How much experience do you have, not only running a business but in the medical field in particular? There are always more problems on the horizon that you may have thought about. And it will be your job to solve them.
If you have made the jump to open a center, or perhaps you already have one, it is time to get serious about obtaining patients. You have to work on this every day. It is the backbone of your business. Anyone can open a business but not everyone has the ability to make it thrive.
If you need professional help, get it. This includes all aspects of your business. Often it is cheaper to pay for someone’s expertise than to learn it the hard way. Time is indeed money. The bills do not take a vacation because you want to. You will have to come back to reality when your employees are to be paid. They are not concerned about your cash flow, only you are.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests.
Many businesses are attempting to cut costs and may be self-insured. Many victims of accidents want auto insurance to pay their bills but do not know how to make it happen. What can you do to help with their problem and solve yours at the same time?
The answers are out there. You only need to find them.
Gaining knowledge of your local market is the first step in creating an effective diagnostic marketing plan.
Owning an Imaging Center used to be a direct path to riches. Not anymore. In the past, before the Stark Law, anyone could open an imaging center, provide an incentive to physicians in the area to refer all of their patient exams to the center, and you were assured of success. Today patients are more proactive than ever when it comes to selecting a medical provider.
Whether your imaging center is new or not, you won’t get far without patients.
Patients are at the core of any diagnostics center, new or old. Give your patients a reason to choose you over your competitors by building and maintaining trust through excellent service and great online reviews.
It’s especially important to generate positive online reviews from happy patients when you’re new to the game.
In 1988, Stark introduced an “Ethics in Patient Referrals Act” bill concerning physician self-referrals. Thus the Stark Law was enacted. It was a good law for all patients in the US. Many imaging centers have tried to outsmart the laws but it is not to be. Thus physicians have few, if any, incentives to refer to your imaging center.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Front desk clerks do not always want to make changes. They may have been in communication with others at the center they are sending to and feel obligated to send to them. It is difficult to change habits and to get people to adapt to new ways of doing things, regardless of the benefits. How many times have you heard ”but we have always done it this way.”
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
Open an Imaging Center: Money, Money, Money
The reason to spend your time and finances and take a chance on an imaging center is, to be blunt, money. If you do not work hard and have faith and confidence, along with good solid numbers from extensive research, you definitely will not succeed. You might as well take a trip to Las Vegas and put all of your and your stakeholder’s money on red.
There is a much better chance with an Imaging Center if you have done your homework and have a method for success. Before even purchasing the land and building your Center, you must do some homework. There are important questions that have to be answered.
If you open an imaging center, who are the radiologists you will be using?
What will be the costs of the radiologists?
Are the radiologists considered to be good in their field by the referring offices?
Have you included the cost of maintenance contracts in your budget?
Have you taken into consideration the time your machines might be down for maintenance?
Have you researched the possible billing alternatives?
Is it cheaper for you to do the billing in your office or are you going to utilize a service?
If you are going to do the billing yourself, can you collect more or less than a service?
Do you have the physical resources to handle billing in your office?
Is your estimated budget for your center realistic?
Do you have a big enough bankroll to carry your center until it is cash flow positive?
Have you researched the reimbursement for the scans you will be providing?
Have you taken into account a decrease in the possible reimbursement?
Have you considered and pursued hospital affiliations that may increase your reimbursement?
Have you taken into account the possible overstatements by physicians offices?
Have you researched the possibility of success against other centers being utilized by physicians offices?
Have you started the paperwork to join different insurance plans?
Do you have a plan to reach the financial goals necessary for the center to be viable?
How long will it take to reach this goal?
Decisions
After researching these questions you need to be critical and decide if the answers warrant opening an imaging center. How much experience do you have, not only running a business but in the medical field in particular? There are always more problems on the horizon that you may have thought about. And it will be your job to solve them.
If you have made the jump to open a center, or perhaps you already have one, it is time to get serious about obtaining patients. You have to work on this every day. It is the backbone of your business. Anyone can open a business but not everyone has the ability to make it thrive.
If you need professional help, get it. This includes all aspects of your business. Often it is cheaper to pay for someone’s expertise than to learn it the hard way. Time is indeed money. The bills do not take a vacation because you want to. You will have to come back to reality when your employees are to be paid. They are not concerned about your cash flow, only you are.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests.
Many businesses are attempting to cut costs and may be self-insured. Many victims of accidents want auto insurance to pay their bills but do not know how to make it happen. What can you do to help with their problem and solve yours at the same time?
The answers are out there. You only need to find them.
Gaining knowledge of your local market is the first step in creating an effective diagnostic marketing plan.
Marketing to physicians should be a cornerstone of any imaging center’s overall strategy.
Effectively marketing to physicians comes down to professional relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with both current and prospective referring physicians is the name of the game. Email is an effective and surprisingly personal method for doing just that.
But what should your radiology email marketing convey? When should you send them? And how do you determine what’s working and what’s not?
Needless to say, setting up automated email funnels for various groups can be tricky. Today we are here to help you build your roadmap to email success.
But before we dive in, remember, your marketing is only as good as your reputation.
If your reviews are less than stellar, not only will patients look elsewhere for care, physicians will look elsewhere when sending referrals.
Writing physician emails to increase patient referrals
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians.
There are three groups of physicians to consider here.
Potential relationships: Doctors who have not referred anyone to you, but that you would like to build a relationship with. (Cold leads)
Previous relationships:Doctors who have referred patients in the past, but not within the last few months. (Warm leads)
Current relationships:Doctors that have recently referred patients. (Hot leads)
Each of these groups needs to have their own automation funnel which we will go over next.
New Physicians: Using a radiology newsletter to build relationships
Gaining traction with a provider that has never referred to your center is the most difficult group to engage so it’s very important that you are selective with the content you include in your radiology newsletters to these offices.
For radiology email marketing, the most important question you can ask yourself here is:
How can I best provide value to the person I am reaching out to?
Here are some proven tactics to use:
Personalize each email by medical specialization. By targeting the physician’s specialty you can provide information that is specific and therefore most useful to that office.
Let them know you researched them. If you’re sending cold emails you don’t want people to think you’re emailing every doctor this side of the Mississippi, but that you chose to reach out to them for a reason (which should be the truth anyway). Tell the referring provider exactly why you chose to reach out to them. These reasons could be:
You have a relationship with one of their partners
Introduce your facility. Let them know who you are and why they may be interested in building a relationship with your radiology center. This is your chance to focus on your strengths.
Ask them a question. Give them an opportunity to tell you what they are looking for or what they are having trouble with. You can send out a survey asking things like:
What difficulties do you face when referring patients to a diagnostic facility?
What are the biggest factors you consider when choosing a facility to refer patients to?
Important note: Always be respectful and courteous of their time. When marketing to physicians that you have not worked with previously, make it very clear that they can choose to stop receiving your radiology emails marketing at any time and make it easy for them to do so.
Winning back physicians who have referred patients to you previously
There could be a number of reasons that a physician who has previously referred patients to your imaging center is no longer doing so. Marketing to doctors in this category means striving to understand what caused them to stop referring and what you can do to make them interested in sending patients once more.
Here are some strategies to use when reaching out to this group:
Update them on what’s new with your facility. If they haven’t talked to you in a while, they likely aren’t up to speed on any new equipment, software, and referring guidelines you may have. Letting them know what they missed could mean you’ve already resolved the thing that made them leave in the first place.
Remind them of your referral process. Sometimes reminding people of how easy it is to work with you makes a big difference.
Let them get to know your staff better. Did you hire a new office manager? Let people know who to contact to get in touch with you. Giving everyone the chance to learn who’s who on your team will help strengthen relationships with physicians. Putting faces to names also helps make your business memorable.
Maintaining relationships with physicians who are currently referring patients
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
Tell them something they don’t know. Do some research so they don’t have to. Maybe there is a new imaging technology that is being developed for their specialty or maybe there are some new findings in how to interpret the results of a scan. Find the information that is most valuable to show them you care about their interests.
Make every email personalized. Maybe you have a doctor that is interested in hearing about new medical technology, and another doctor that is interested in hearing about upcoming community events. Ask people not only if they are interested in getting your emails, but also, what they are interested hearing about.
Learn how you can help them. It may be that there are ways you could help your referring providers out that you don’t know they need. So why not ask them? Finding out how you can best help people means you will understand what you can do to provide value to them.
Effective email marketing to referring physicians takes time
Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take work. With these tactics, you can write effective radiology email marketing to your referring physicians that provide value to your referring partners. Every physician’s office is unique and research is an ongoing process. Measure your progress often to find what emails are best for your diagnostic imaging center.
In need of effective and professional email marketing centered on increasing provider referrals?
Marketing to physicians should be a cornerstone of any imaging center’s overall strategy.
Effectively marketing to physicians comes down to professional relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with both current and prospective referring physicians is the name of the game. Email is an effective and surprisingly personal method for doing just that.
But what should your radiology email marketing convey? When should you send them? And how do you determine what’s working and what’s not?
Needless to say, setting up automated email funnels for various groups can be tricky. Today we are here to help you build your roadmap to email success.
But before we dive in, remember, your marketing is only as good as your reputation.
If your reviews are less than stellar, not only will patients look elsewhere for care, physicians will look elsewhere when sending referrals.
Writing physician emails to increase patient referrals
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians.
There are three groups of physicians to consider here.
Potential relationships: Doctors who have not referred anyone to you, but that you would like to build a relationship with. (Cold leads)
Previous relationships:Doctors who have referred patients in the past, but not within the last few months. (Warm leads)
Current relationships:Doctors that have recently referred patients. (Hot leads)
Each of these groups needs to have their own automation funnel which we will go over next.
New Physicians: Using a radiology newsletter to build relationships
Gaining traction with a provider that has never referred to your center is the most difficult group to engage so it’s very important that you are selective with the content you include in your radiology newsletters to these offices.
For radiology email marketing, the most important question you can ask yourself here is:
How can I best provide value to the person I am reaching out to?
Here are some proven tactics to use:
Personalize each email by medical specialization. By targeting the physician’s specialty you can provide information that is specific and therefore most useful to that office.
Let them know you researched them. If you’re sending cold emails you don’t want people to think you’re emailing every doctor this side of the Mississippi, but that you chose to reach out to them for a reason (which should be the truth anyway). Tell the referring provider exactly why you chose to reach out to them. These reasons could be:
You have a relationship with one of their partners
Introduce your facility. Let them know who you are and why they may be interested in building a relationship with your radiology center. This is your chance to focus on your strengths.
Ask them a question. Give them an opportunity to tell you what they are looking for or what they are having trouble with. You can send out a survey asking things like:
What difficulties do you face when referring patients to a diagnostic facility?
What are the biggest factors you consider when choosing a facility to refer patients to?
Important note: Always be respectful and courteous of their time. When marketing to physicians that you have not worked with previously, make it very clear that they can choose to stop receiving your radiology emails marketing at any time and make it easy for them to do so.
Winning back physicians who have referred patients to you previously
There could be a number of reasons that a physician who has previously referred patients to your imaging center is no longer doing so. Marketing to doctors in this category means striving to understand what caused them to stop referring and what you can do to make them interested in sending patients once more.
Here are some strategies to use when reaching out to this group:
Update them on what’s new with your facility. If they haven’t talked to you in a while, they likely aren’t up to speed on any new equipment, software, and referring guidelines you may have. Letting them know what they missed could mean you’ve already resolved the thing that made them leave in the first place.
Remind them of your referral process. Sometimes reminding people of how easy it is to work with you makes a big difference.
Let them get to know your staff better. Did you hire a new office manager? Let people know who to contact to get in touch with you. Giving everyone the chance to learn who’s who on your team will help strengthen relationships with physicians. Putting faces to names also helps make your business memorable.
Maintaining relationships with physicians who are currently referring patients
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
Tell them something they don’t know. Do some research so they don’t have to. Maybe there is a new imaging technology that is being developed for their specialty or maybe there are some new findings in how to interpret the results of a scan. Find the information that is most valuable to show them you care about their interests.
Make every email personalized. Maybe you have a doctor that is interested in hearing about new medical technology, and another doctor that is interested in hearing about upcoming community events. Ask people not only if they are interested in getting your emails, but also, what they are interested hearing about.
Learn how you can help them. It may be that there are ways you could help your referring providers out that you don’t know they need. So why not ask them? Finding out how you can best help people means you will understand what you can do to provide value to them.
Effective email marketing to referring physicians takes time
Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take work. With these tactics, you can write effective radiology email marketing to your referring physicians that provide value to your referring partners. Every physician’s office is unique and research is an ongoing process. Measure your progress often to find what emails are best for your diagnostic imaging center.
In need of effective and professional email marketing centered on increasing provider referrals?
Understanding the law and what is allowed and Marketing your Diagnostic Center, you will attract new patients, grow your practice, and get the attention of referring physicians. Lack of understanding, and you could face steep fines or possible jail time.
So, where’s the line and what can you do to grow your patient base?
Marketing is easy when your online reputation is top notch.
5-star reviews build trust with patients and referring providers. So long as your reviews are from real, unbiased patients, growing your online reviews is always a safe and effective marketing strategy.
The Laws You Need to Consider When Marketing your Diagnostic Center:
When marketing your practice, there are multiple legal restrictions which dictate what is lawful and what is not. There are two areas which are especially relevant.
First, you will need to be aware of anti-kickback laws. This is a federal law which prevents you from offering money or gifts to entice patients into your clinic. This is a felony. If charged and convicted, you could go to jail. Second, you will need to be aware of the Stark law. This law prevents you from offering incentives, money or gifts to providers in return for funneling patients to your center. This is a civil code, thus, if convicted you will not face jail time. You will, however, enjoy a substantial fine. An important fact to know and understand about this law, you do not need to show intent to be in violation. You can be in violation without knowing and still be ordered to pay a fine.
Here are some instances which illustrate what you should and should not do to market your practice or clinic:
Situation #1: Playing the Social Media Tagging Game with your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A radiology or diagnostic center partners with a local business to promote awareness for breast cancer screening. Marketing brochures are placed within the business instructing participants to post a selfie with the brochure and tag your practice for a chance to win a small prize.
Allowed?: Probably good to go. This situation is about breast health awareness and not specifically bribing patients to come in to your clinic.
Situation #2: MRI Merch for your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
To promote a new MRI machine, a clinic offers branded marketing merchandise to the first 25 referring physicians for a certain period of time.
Allowed?: Nope.
This is a violation of the Stark law. You cannot offer an incentive to referring providers only. You won’t face jail time, but you could face a large fine.
Situation #3: Lunch & Learn at your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A center offers free lunch to local physicians while providing an educational seminar on new relevant technology.
Allowed?: Should Be Fine.
Education does not run against the Stark law, just make sure that education is, in fact, the focus. If you prefer to be extra cautious, keep an accurate accounting of the cost per guest attending the event to report on your non-monetary compensation spreadsheet.
Situation #4: The Holiday Gift Basket Bash for your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
Your office is one of many within a hospital marketing to referring physicians. You want to send them a nice holiday fruit basket to make sure they remember you.
Allowed?: Hmm, You Better Watch Out
The amount of non-monetary gifts you can give to a provider is calculated by entity and not by department. Thus, if radiologists, orthopedists, cardiologists, hospital administration, or any other department are also sending baskets, you could be in violation of the Stark law. You should try to see who is giving what and an idea of cost.
Situation #5: Your Radiology and Diagnostic Center in Full Color
You just got a bunch of 5-star reviews and some extra budget for marketing, so you put out an ad proclaiming your practice as the best in the region.
Allowed?: Maybe Not – Be Careful.
Something to always keep in mind when advertising your radiology or diagnostic center is truth-in-advertising laws. Are you really the best around? Did you conduct a verifiable survey?
If you cannot prove your claim, you could be in violation. You will also need to take into consideration the models in your advertisement. If they are current or former patients you must have a signed release granting permission, otherwise, you could be faced with a HIPAA violation.
Situation #6: Fancy Dinner and 15 Min. Talk About Radiology & Diagnostics Centers
A center invites referring providers to an expensive dinner at an upscale restaurant. To check off the educational portion of the evening, a fifteen-minute lecture on the latest in the radiology and diagnostic field is discussed. The rest of the evening is spent enjoying wine, spirits, and delicious gourmet cuisine.
Allowed?: It’s a no-no.
This is the reason the Stark law exists. They are written to keep large, expensive gifts from being given to entice referring providers to send patients your way. Fancy dinners with all the trimmings qualify as large gifts. This is also a situation where you may, in fact, have to attribute the entire cost of food to each guest rather than noting a per person amount.
Situation #7: Extra, Extra: Get Your CME Right Here … at this Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A radiology and diagnostic center would like to offer CME to area providers.
Allowed?: Maybe.
If the referring provider would normally be paying for this CME, you will need to charge a fee. If you decide against charging, the cost will need to be recorded on your non-monetary compensation spreadsheet.
Situation #8: Diagnostic & Radiology Center Mixer
A practice manager at the office of a provider requests that a diagnostic and radiology center bring in lunch for everyone to enjoy together. This is also a great way to break the ice and network.
Allowed?: Don’t do it.
No individual at any referring physician office may request a gift of any kind, which includes food.
Situation #9: Diagnostics Coupons and Special Deals on Exams?
Can a radiology or diagnostic center offer a promotion through a coupon service such as Groupon?
Allowed?: Maybe, but be careful.
So long as the promotion excludes Medicare patients, you should be clear to proceed. If the discount includes Medicare patients and Medicare pays for the service provided, this is defined as a kickback. Not to mention, Groupon received a cut, which is like a commission for sending patients. These are not allowed.
Situation #10: Let’s Party! With Your Favorite Providers
Can a radiology and diagnostic center throw an appreciation party for referring providers?
Allowed?: Record Keeping is the Name of the Game
The Stark law provides a predetermined amount that may be spent each year on non-monetary compensation. This can be food, pens, stress balls, etc. Use a spreadsheet to keep a record of how much is spent per year per physician.
These situations are just a sampling of scenarios which radiology and diagnostics centers can face at any time. Knowledge and understanding of current laws and norms are of the highest importance when operating a successful practice. Whether you are in the radiology and diagnostic industry or another field, be sure to realize and put into practice all guidelines and laws governing your practice today.
Looking for a little help growing your diagnostic center?
Understanding the law and what is allowed and Marketing your Diagnostic Center, you will attract new patients, grow your practice, and get the attention of referring physicians. Lack of understanding, and you could face steep fines or possible jail time.
So, where’s the line and what can you do to grow your patient base?
Marketing is easy when your online reputation is top notch.
5-star reviews build trust with patients and referring providers. So long as your reviews are from real, unbiased patients, growing your online reviews is always a safe and effective marketing strategy.
The Laws You Need to Consider When Marketing your Diagnostic Center:
When marketing your practice, there are multiple legal restrictions which dictate what is lawful and what is not. There are two areas which are especially relevant.
First, you will need to be aware of anti-kickback laws. This is a federal law which prevents you from offering money or gifts to entice patients into your clinic. This is a felony. If charged and convicted, you could go to jail. Second, you will need to be aware of the Stark law. This law prevents you from offering incentives, money or gifts to providers in return for funneling patients to your center. This is a civil code, thus, if convicted you will not face jail time. You will, however, enjoy a substantial fine. An important fact to know and understand about this law, you do not need to show intent to be in violation. You can be in violation without knowing and still be ordered to pay a fine.
Here are some instances which illustrate what you should and should not do to market your practice or clinic:
Situation #1: Playing the Social Media Tagging Game with your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A radiology or diagnostic center partners with a local business to promote awareness for breast cancer screening. Marketing brochures are placed within the business instructing participants to post a selfie with the brochure and tag your practice for a chance to win a small prize.
Allowed?: Probably good to go. This situation is about breast health awareness and not specifically bribing patients to come in to your clinic.
Situation #2: MRI Merch for your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
To promote a new MRI machine, a clinic offers branded marketing merchandise to the first 25 referring physicians for a certain period of time.
Allowed?: Nope.
This is a violation of the Stark law. You cannot offer an incentive to referring providers only. You won’t face jail time, but you could face a large fine.
Situation #3: Lunch & Learn at your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A center offers free lunch to local physicians while providing an educational seminar on new relevant technology.
Allowed?: Should Be Fine.
Education does not run against the Stark law, just make sure that education is, in fact, the focus. If you prefer to be extra cautious, keep an accurate accounting of the cost per guest attending the event to report on your non-monetary compensation spreadsheet.
Situation #4: The Holiday Gift Basket Bash for your Radiology and Diagnostic Center
Your office is one of many within a hospital marketing to referring physicians. You want to send them a nice holiday fruit basket to make sure they remember you.
Allowed?: Hmm, You Better Watch Out
The amount of non-monetary gifts you can give to a provider is calculated by entity and not by department. Thus, if radiologists, orthopedists, cardiologists, hospital administration, or any other department are also sending baskets, you could be in violation of the Stark law. You should try to see who is giving what and an idea of cost.
Situation #5: Your Radiology and Diagnostic Center in Full Color
You just got a bunch of 5-star reviews and some extra budget for marketing, so you put out an ad proclaiming your practice as the best in the region.
Allowed?: Maybe Not – Be Careful.
Something to always keep in mind when advertising your radiology or diagnostic center is truth-in-advertising laws. Are you really the best around? Did you conduct a verifiable survey?
If you cannot prove your claim, you could be in violation. You will also need to take into consideration the models in your advertisement. If they are current or former patients you must have a signed release granting permission, otherwise, you could be faced with a HIPAA violation.
Situation #6: Fancy Dinner and 15 Min. Talk About Radiology & Diagnostics Centers
A center invites referring providers to an expensive dinner at an upscale restaurant. To check off the educational portion of the evening, a fifteen-minute lecture on the latest in the radiology and diagnostic field is discussed. The rest of the evening is spent enjoying wine, spirits, and delicious gourmet cuisine.
Allowed?: It’s a no-no.
This is the reason the Stark law exists. They are written to keep large, expensive gifts from being given to entice referring providers to send patients your way. Fancy dinners with all the trimmings qualify as large gifts. This is also a situation where you may, in fact, have to attribute the entire cost of food to each guest rather than noting a per person amount.
Situation #7: Extra, Extra: Get Your CME Right Here … at this Radiology and Diagnostic Center
A radiology and diagnostic center would like to offer CME to area providers.
Allowed?: Maybe.
If the referring provider would normally be paying for this CME, you will need to charge a fee. If you decide against charging, the cost will need to be recorded on your non-monetary compensation spreadsheet.
Situation #8: Diagnostic & Radiology Center Mixer
A practice manager at the office of a provider requests that a diagnostic and radiology center bring in lunch for everyone to enjoy together. This is also a great way to break the ice and network.
Allowed?: Don’t do it.
No individual at any referring physician office may request a gift of any kind, which includes food.
Situation #9: Diagnostics Coupons and Special Deals on Exams?
Can a radiology or diagnostic center offer a promotion through a coupon service such as Groupon?
Allowed?: Maybe, but be careful.
So long as the promotion excludes Medicare patients, you should be clear to proceed. If the discount includes Medicare patients and Medicare pays for the service provided, this is defined as a kickback. Not to mention, Groupon received a cut, which is like a commission for sending patients. These are not allowed.
Situation #10: Let’s Party! With Your Favorite Providers
Can a radiology and diagnostic center throw an appreciation party for referring providers?
Allowed?: Record Keeping is the Name of the Game
The Stark law provides a predetermined amount that may be spent each year on non-monetary compensation. This can be food, pens, stress balls, etc. Use a spreadsheet to keep a record of how much is spent per year per physician.
These situations are just a sampling of scenarios which radiology and diagnostics centers can face at any time. Knowledge and understanding of current laws and norms are of the highest importance when operating a successful practice. Whether you are in the radiology and diagnostic industry or another field, be sure to realize and put into practice all guidelines and laws governing your practice today.
Looking for a little help growing your diagnostic center?
Gathering information in the following areas will vastly improve any marketing manager’s ability to grow an imaging center. The success of your diagnostic marketing plan and your overall profitability will be driven by this research.
Gathering data by performing a full radiology market analysis and competition assessment is akin to learning who you are up against in a sporting event. If you don’t know how many other players are on the opposing team, their signature plays, or even how many teams you could be competing against, you’re in for a tough game.
Getting a clear picture of how you’re perceived by patients and providers may be the most valuable ongoing data you can collect. Strive to constantly assess your progress through:
Things change over time, if you’ve planned carefully, it will be for the better. Monitoring your progress through ongoing data collection and assessment is a key component to maintaining your trajectory. 
Healthcare providers are obviously people you want on your side. If you have a designated Physician Liaison they have likely delved into this to some degree. However, marketing to physicians for referrals is a tricky business. Monetarily, it seems providers offices wouldn’t have much to gain by sending patients to any particular imaging center since it doesn’t directly impact their bottom line. Upon closer inspection, however, it’s clear that when patients are happy with an imaging center, and their doctor, everyone benefits.
Like most of us, doctors don’t have time or patience for emails that are generic and salesy. People want to open emails that are chock full of useful information that is specific to the problems they are facing. This is important to keep in mind when incorporating emails into your 
When people read about something interesting, have a great experience, or save a ton of money, they tend to tell their friend, family, and coworkers about it. Here are a few ways to encourage your patients to spread the word.
Email is not only a great marketing tool, it can also help you nurture your existing relationships with physicians and patients. Maintaining and increasing patient retention should always be a top priority and paying attention to what your patient need and want is key.
Sending out emails without a clearly defined strategy is like cooking for dinner guests without a recipe. It might start out great, but once you get going you’re bound to run into some problems. And serving a burnt casserole at your party is not so impressive.
Patients who slip through the cracks may suffer negative consequences of disrupted care, while your center loses the rewards of all the hard work that has gone into your outreach and reputation-building efforts.
You take pride in your staff’s training and dedication to current best practices, as well as the safety and rigor of the technologies they use. However, other metrics of quality may be an even more effective method to 
Taking the time to help a patient understand the choices and services that they are being offered may help them to not only 
Empowering your imaging patients to understand and take part in their health care will result in positive outcomes, including patient satisfaction and an 
Integrating warmth and continued connection with the patient into your center’s processes 
A large study of 54,652 radiology exam appointments
Tip:
More specifically, your imaging center should be located near the offices of your 
It is difficult to find a free-standing building that is suitable for all of the requirements for an outpatient imaging center. Even if your chosen building was built as an imaging center, changes will likely have to be made. 
You must carefully consider the ideal location for the MRI room. 
If you have decided to be your own contractor, hire a foreman. A good foreman can save you aggravation and money. Not only can he take care of the details, but he should be able to set up an approximate, or definitive timeline for the completion of the work as well as a reliable cost. His knowledge will be invaluable.
However, all is not lost. Patients still have to have exams and physicians still have to refer them. The trick is to get your imaging center to be the main referral center. Some physicians will never send to you. They have allegiance to the center they are sending their patients to.
Your job is to encourage them to give you a chance. Remember, they are very busy and are used to the way they have always done things. You have to give them a reason why your center is better and why they should refer to you. If the physician-employer tells their front desk to use you, they certainly will. If the patient requests your center, the physician’s office will have no choice but to oblige them. However, barring that, you will have to be very convincing if you want to open an imaging center.
To open an imaging center, you must be innovative in finding ways to obtain more patients. Figure out what patients are looking for in an imaging center. It often relates to costs. In today’s market with deductibles so high, many patients of the past are going without the necessary tests. 
First and foremost, your focus should be on your physician emails. Since doctors are the ones referring patients to your facility for diagnostic tests, they need to be your focus. As a diagnostic center, one of your most valuable relationships is with referring physicians. 
Important note:
Making sure you’re fostering strong relationships with currently referring physicians is vital. The content you send to this group is highly dependent on the nature of your current relationship. So, always be sure you’re only sending emails to these doctors if and when they are wanting to receive them. If you have determined that these providers are interested in getting emails from your imaging center, here are some tips:
Second, you will need to be aware of the Stark law. This law prevents you from offering incentives, money or gifts to providers in return for funneling patients to your center. This is a civil code, thus, if convicted you will not face jail time. You will, however, enjoy a substantial fine. An important fact to know and understand about this law, you do not need to show intent to be in violation. You can be in violation without knowing and still be ordered to pay a fine.
This is a violation of the Stark law. You cannot offer an incentive to referring providers only. You won’t face jail time, but you could face a large fine. 
If the referring provider would normally be paying for this CME, you will need to charge a fee. If you decide against charging, the cost will need to be recorded on your non-monetary compensation spreadsheet.
These situations are just a sampling of scenarios which radiology and diagnostics centers can face at any time. Knowledge and understanding of current laws and norms are of the highest importance when operating a successful practice. Whether you are in the radiology and diagnostic industry or another field, be sure to realize and put into practice all guidelines and laws governing your practice today.